The Story of Us
by xCoriLynnx
Summary: "I'm sending Marissa Forget-Me-Not Valley to see you. So for the love of Goddess, Rock, whatever melodramatic reaction you're having to this situation, please put a cap on it for my daughter's sake." Nami left Forget-Me-Not Valley nearly twenty years ago, but her daughter is about to find out why her mother called this place home for many years.
1. Chapter 1-Long Time, No See

**The Story of Us**

**By xCoriLynnx**

**Author's Note-**Finally published! To tell you the truth, this story has been bouncing around my mind for quite some time now; I just could not find a way to seamlessly transition my thoughts to paper. Anyway, I am very excited to get this story out there, and I hope you all are just as excited to read it!

Chapter 1

Long Time, No See

The Blue Bar was closed today for a special occasion. A special, long overdue occasion in Rock's opinion, though he wished it was taking place under different circumstances. Quite frankly, the man had an inkling that the closed pub would either go unnoticed by the rest of the residents or, even more pitiable, be the biggest news to hit the town in months. Ah, well. That was life in the Forget-Me-Not Valley nowadays, wasn't it, and why should he be surprised in the slightest?

Rock was a man well into his forties with a spirit that perpetually emulated that of teenager with blond hair (that seemed more and more artificially colored as the years went on) and dancing brown eyes. Though he was regarded by others (okay, maybe the title was self-inducted) as the life of the party in the Valley, lately, his mood reflected that of the old turtle that used to peek his head out of the swamp on the south side of town.

You see, Rock had received a letter a couple of days ago in a thick, cream colored envelope. It was just as unexpected as it was unwelcome, and to be completely honest, he would have much preferred to have never heard from Nami again than to have been forced to read the contents of that letter.

"Hey, Rock," it began, "long time no see—"

The understatement of the century.

What kind of greeting was that, especially in this kind of situation? For a quick catch up note, it might be appropriate, or maybe a card for the New Year's festival, but for this? If this was Nami's way of lightening the mood, she has a God awful sense of humor.

Despite having read the letter over for the umpteenth time (he could now recite it from memory) it did not seem real to him, nor was he willing to accept it anytime soon. How could anyone fathom a letter from a best friend who you haven't seen in nearly twenty years that essentially read, "Hey, bad news, I'm dying…probably already gone by the time you read this."

Okay, it was not that blunt, but it might as well have been because after Rock had read those words, he was pretty sure he lost the capability of breathing.

He could barely get through the letter in one sitting. Nami. Illness. Dying. The words were jumbled oddly in his head, but he refused to accept that they had anything to do with one another. A world without a certain cynical red head frightened him. The fact that she could use her last ounces of strength to pen him a letter postmortem explaining the details so casually infuriated him.

Eventually, though, he was able to pull it together to reach the end of the letter—Nami's last words for him:

"I'm sending Marissa Forget-Me-Not Valley to see you. So for the love of Goddess, Rock, whatever melodramatic reaction you're having to this situation, please put a cap on it for my daughter's sake. You're all she has left now, and she needs you. I know you're going to take care of her the way you've taken care of me. Thanks. Nami."

And that was it.

Rock never had the opportunity to meet Marissa. Nami had not known she was pregnant when she left the valley, and her only correspondence with him after leaving was to send him the sonogram. If he recalled correctly, that letter was worded with that familiar caustic bite as well, and at the time, Rock could not imagine anything worse than a pregnant, grieving Nami alone at the doctor's office listening to her baby's heartbeat.

Of course, now he could imagine much worse scenarios. Rock fought constantly to keep the images of a frail, bedridden Nami out of his head.

So now, Rock was sitting at the vacated bar waiting to depart for Mineral Town, where Marissa would be arriving by ferry. He spent the time thinking of what he would say to the girl upon her arrival, but several long hours later, he still did not have a suitable idea.

He would find the words. He had to. Nami clearly thought this all through when she sent her daughter en route to Forget-Me-Not Valley in the first place.

Either that or she was desperate. Very, very desperate. Most likely the latter.

"I know you're going to take care of her the way you've taken care of me."

The words from the letter echoed oddly in his head, as if he could hear Nami saying them himself. Rock wondered how long it would take before he would forget the sound of her voice completely.

_Ding. Ding._

Fortunately for him, that was a thought that he would have to ponder at some other time, as the clock just alerted him that it was one o'clock. Time to make the trip for Mineral Town.

Rock left the Blue Bar with these two thoughts: he hoped that he would find the right words to say to Marissa; and he prayed to Goddess that Nami was not putting too much trust in him.

**Author's Note-**I was not originally intending for this chapter to be all exposition, but I figured that it was important to get some groundwork in there before I completely launched into the rest of the plot. A lot more will be revealed in Chapter 2, so stay tuned, and please tell me what you think!


	2. Chapter 2-Deja Vu

**Author's Note-**Thank you all who read and/or reviewed Chapter 1! I seriously don't know where the time has gone. School has been taking up most of my time (I know, lame, cliché excuse). Finally, I have found myself some uninterrupted writing time, so let's try Chapter 2 again, shall we?

Chapter 2

Deja Vu

Thick gray clouds blanketed the skies as Rock waited for the ferry to arrive. Of course, it would have been much more appropriate if it were raining. It had been raining the last time Rock had found himself here, though that time, he was not waiting for somebody to arrive.

_"Nami! Don't get on that boat. You need to come home with me."_

Hard to believe it had been nineteen years since that night.

Sometimes, Rock imagined the day when Nami would come to her senses and return home to the Valley. He pictured himself here, at Mineral Beach, the exact same spot where she had said good-bye to him. It would be a glorious summer day, not a cloud in sight, and Rock would pace Mineral Beach until the anticipation ate him from the inside out. At last the ferry would arrive, and though it would be a mile or two off shore, there would be no mistaking that fiery red hair. He would barely wait for his best friend to step off the boat before he would unceremoniously converge on her, most likely lifting her high into the air and giving her a spin or two for good measure. It would take a good jab in the shoulder for him to finally set her down again.

It would be then that he would see the young girl apprehensively peering up at him: Marissa. She would be the spitting image of her mother down to an identical head of red hair and caustic personality. Nami's scowl from Rock's overenthusiastic greeting would then split into a wide beam, reaching her icy blue eyes, and she would eagerly take her young doppelganger's hand and introduce her to Rock.

Of course, the meeting that was about to take place would be entirely different. Most notably, the absence of his best friend.

After Nami's cryptic letter from the grave, Rock had received a letter from a Doctor Alex of Flowerbud Village, where, apparently, Nami had settled down (upon reading this, Rock could not stifle a laugh at the idea of Nami residing anywhere with such a name). The letter was as brief as Nami's; it simply outlined that Nami had passed away on Winter the 28th and that at her request, Marissa would be sent to Forget-Me-Not Valley, arriving in Mineral Town on the afternoon of Spring the 3rd.

To Rock, these circumstances were mind boggling. He had not seen Nami in nineteen years. In that time, so much had changed: she had a child and clearly made a life for herself in this Flowerbud Village. How could she expect him to sufficiently look after her daughter when he had no idea what kind of person Nami had become in that time?

Of course, he knew exactly what Nami's intentions were. She wanted Rock to fill Marissa in on her paternal side of the family tree.

After what seemed like an eternity in this state of deep thought, Rock caught a glimpse of a boat looming over the horizon. Nami's daughter was on that boat.

It took several minutes for it to finally reach shore (Rock noticed about a minute and a half later that he was not breathing as he waited). He craned his neck, hoping to catch sight of a head of fiery red hair, a trait that any daughter of Nami's was sure to have.

He did not find it.

Instead, he glimpsed a young woman leaning on the railing of the ferry. She had a bob of light brown hair and brown eyes that were intently focused on her surroundings. She was dressed in a mustard yellow jacket over a casual green dress.

Oh yes, she was Nami's daughter, all right; just with her father's genetics.

As the boat teetered to a stop, the girl's gaze shifted over to Rock. Again, her eyes hardened with observation; obviously, she was deciphering whether or not he was the mysterious man she was sent to meet. When she seemed to decide it was safe to approach him, she picked up her backpack that was set on the floor beside her and made her way off the boat.

"You're Rock, aren't you?" she asked as soon as her foot made contact with the sand. For the first time, Rock found himself in a position where he was not the one initiating conversation. The girl extended her right hand. "I'm Marissa."

Well, she certainly wasted no time in getting to know others. Clearly something she did not inherit from her mother.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Marissa," Rock replied shaking her hand. "I'm Rock…but I guess you already know that, huh?"

He found himself at a loss for words. What a foreign concept, especially for someone as verbose as he. Ugh. Speak, Rock, speak.

"I'm so sorry about your mom," he continued.

Something seemed to extinguish in Marissa's eyes just then. "Right," she said, her voice a few decibels lower. "Thanks."

Okay, Rock, back off now. Obviously, it's something she doesn't want to talk about right now.

Though how long could they realistically avoid the topic of her mother? After all, she initiated all of this.

If Nami were here right now, she would have already given him a sharp punch in the arm for how he was handling this whole thing. After all, he was never the best at first impressions.

_"Beautiful day isn't it?"_

_ The twenty-eight year old red head jumped nearly half her height off the ground when she realized that she was not alone on the balcony. She regained her composure as quickly as she lost it and fixed her newfound companion with a cold stare. "I'm sorry, I did not realize this was a public balcony."_

_ Rock, however, did not recoil under her gaze and leaned against the railing, acting as though the sunlight kissing his face was rejuvenating him (when in reality, it was burning his corneas; he had just woken up twenty minutes ago despite it being one o'clock in the afternoon). "My parents told me that we had a new guest," he explained, "and I for one was offended that our new guest did not think to knock on my door and introduce herself to me."_

_ "It wasn't an oversight," the woman muttered, but it did not phase Rock in the slightest._

_ "I was even more offended," he continued, turning his attention back onto the woman, "that they failed to mention that our new guest was more gorgeous than the room we offered her to stay in."_

_ It looked like she was fighting every fiber of her being not to haul off and slap him right then and there._

_ "I'm Rock, by the way. Tim and Ruby's son, if you haven't already figured that out. My room is right across the hall. So I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other."_

_ "Be that as it may, I came out here to be alone, so I'll no doubt be seeing you soo—"_

_ "What's _your _name?" Rock's facial expression resembled that of an eager puppy dog, and he could have sworn he saw the woman give a slight chuckle._

_ "Nami."_

"You know what?" Rock said, trying to salvage what was left of the conversation. "You're probably tired after the trip over here. Why don't we head home—er…to the Valley, and we can get to know each other better?"

Marissa smiled shyly. "Yeah, that sounds good," she replied.

As the two of them started back to the Valley together, it finally hit Rock that this sort of thing had happened some twenty five years ago. He remembered quite well, actually, the young man who arrived in Forget-Me-Not Valley after the death of his father, determined to carry on his legacy.

Oh yes, Marissa was Nami's daughter.

But her fate mirrored that of her father, Jack's.

**Author's Note: **I didn't intend for this chapter to be mostly exposition either, but I think some of the unanswered questions in Chapter 1 called for it. I promise, the plot will move forward in the next coming chapters. To tell you the truth, there are many versions of Chapter 2, but this is the one I was most happy with. Hopefully you all share my point of view. Anyway, please tell me what you think!


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